Friday, February 5, 2010

The Demon Comcast rises AGAIIN! and an honorary vpar answers the call!

Y'know between Obama's centrist turn, The Supreme Court allowing corporations to buy elections, The loss of Ted Kennedy's seat, and Senator Shelby making it clear he is bought and paid for, We Action Rangers have had little to be excited about politically. But fortunately we found a small morsel to smile about.

Its no secret that we Action Rangers loathe Comcast and their underhanded practices, megalomaniacal business model, or just plain douche like ability to fuck over everyone in their grasp. We have long reported every single dickfaced thing they've done and now with their attempted merger with NBC, their dick shaped face will have an even longer reach. Here's a quick list of what they've done, and what they will be capable of if they are allowed ANOTHER chunk of the media pie.

1) Comcast Buys InfluenceThe communications industry is, after all, second only to Big Pharma in Washington influence-peddling. Comcast spent more than $5.5 million in campaign contributions since 2006 alone to have their way in Washington. That's not counting more than $50 million they've spent on lobbying in the past three years!

2) How Much Is Enough?Comcast earned more than $3.6 billion in profits in 2009 while claiming they didn't have enough money to invest in faster Internet networks ... and while raising rates as much as 50 percent over the past five years in some markets.

3) Fat Cat CEOIn 2008, CEO Brian Roberts was ranked as one of five "Highest Paid Worst Performers" in America. 2008 income: $40.8 million. Sitting on Capitol Hill yesterday, he raked in more than $100,000.

4) Bad Customer ServiceComcast ranked second only to AOL in poor customer service, according to a 2009 Zogby/MSM Money poll. Comcast service is so bad they drove a 75-year-old woman named Mona Shaw to wreck one of their stores with a hammer.

5) Comcast Lies and Plays DirtyIn official 2006 testimony, Comcast Vice President David L. Cohen said: "If Comcast were to try to 'deny, delay, or degrade' the Internet experience that our more than 9 million cable Internet customers have paid for, how can we possibly expect to keep them as customers. ... Any provider that does not meet the needs of users will suffer from a serious backlash from consumers and policymakers." Well his company answered his own question by their very business practices. Comcast on a regular basis works to make sure they have no competitors of any kind in the areas they do business, leaving customers to take either them or no one as their cable provider.

Then in 2008, after being caught illegally blocking content Cohen admitted: "Comcast may on a limited basis temporarily delay certain P2P traffic." That's the same year Comcast was caught paying for seat fillers at a public FCC hearing into their illegal Internet blocking. Only this year, after being censured by the FCC, did Roberts admit to the company's "mistake."

7) Comcast Blocks Independent VoicesDespite digging up our city streets and enjoying a near-monopoly for decades, Comcast has consistently tried to shirk its community responsibilities - including trying to kick public, educational and government channels into the cable-tier equivalent of Siberia.

8) Goodbye Free Online VideoIf this takeover goes through, Comcast will likely pull free NBC content from sites like Hulu and put them behind a "paywall." In Thursday's congressional testimony, Comcast CEO Brian Roberts claimed he wouldn't, but he left wiggle room for his "TV Everywhere" scheme that would force you to pay for a cable subscription to watch your favorite Comcast- and NBC-owned shows online.

9) Launching a Merger WaveThink this deal stinks? Just wait. If approved, a Comcast/NBC deal would set off a wave of mega-deals as other companies try to keep up. If this deal goes through, you can be sure Verizon-Disney or AT&T-Viacom won't be far behind.

10) Comcast Can't Be TrustedIt's clear Comcast will say and do anything to sell this deal and try to keep Congress and the federal regulators from getting involved to safeguard the public interest. The spin cycle is already starting.

But luckily one of our own is in the fight and he isn't going to take any bullshit. Honorary V.P.A.R. Al Franken grilled both NBC prick Jeff Zucker and Comcast's CEO as a member of the judiciary committee and made it clear he won't just roll over for the sake of campaign dollars.

Here's hoping that Franken can gain some traction and get some of his colleagues to join because this deal juust about everybody. Cant figure out what to do? Email your congressman and senators. Its important they know that the people who vote for them do not want this. So get to it! XD